Izamal

Historia

The first of Mexico’s Magical Towns, it is geographically located in the center of the Peninsula of Yucatán. Its history, from foundation to present time, has strong religious overtones; the site was once an enormous Mayan ceremonial center. Founded by the Itzá, it owes its name to a character of mythological origin and singular wisdom, who assumed the roles of teacher, mentor and priest to the Maya. His name was Itzamna or Zamna which means “Dew descended from heaven.”

This site is also known as the “City of Hills”, referring to the overgrown pyramids found there, and also the “City of Three Cultures”, for the combination of prehispanic, colonial and present-day influences.

Izamal was one of the most important city-states of the prehispanic Maya during DC 850 to 1000, and also one of the oldest. Its settlements date as far back as the 3rd century AD making it older even than Chichén Itzá and Uxmal. For centuries it was a place of pilgrimage for the Maya who arrived by the “sacbeoob”, the white stone roads which connected the principal metropolises of the Mayan World.

As a Mayan-Toltec city it was at its height during the Post-classic Period, and later abandoned together with all the other cities of that era, so that when the Spaniards arrived it was practically uninhabited and belonged to an indigenous group of the Cocom.

It was an important ceremonial center of the region where seven important pyramids were erected. The Spaniards respected some of the temples although stones from the most ancient structures were used to give life to new constructions, as in the case of the majestic convent of San Antonio de Padua, founded by the priest Fray Diego de Landa and the Franciscan missionaries in 1549.

It has the largest atrium in the world, surpassed only by Saint Peter’s in the Vatican and where His Holiness Pope John Paul II held a mass for the native indians while on a visit to Mexico.

Along the neat, cobbled streets, horse-drawn buggies take visitors around its charming plazas and parks, historic suburbs and beautiful streets where Fray Diego de Landa himself seems to speak to us of the daily life of this town and its proud people. At night, the city offers a singular experience, to contemplate the star-studded sky beyond the silhouetted pyramids, temples and colonial mansions; shadows which seem to awaken after centuries of sleep.

The building of second greatest importance is the pyramid of Itzamatul, to which a gigantic platform was added during one of the three stages of construction. It was dedicated to the founder of the city and reaches a height of 22 meters.

During the innumerable excavations and restorations carried out here, around 80 prehispanic structures have been discovered, among which is Kinich Kakmo, “Sun Face” where the sun was worshipped as the source of life. This imposing pyramid stands as an immutable guardian of the “City of Hills” and like “Dew descended from Heaven” invites visitors to wrap themselves up in the unique magic of this wonderful corner of prehispanic, colonial and modern Mexico, in an encounter with time itself…